Justice and Brightness

Qi Tongwei picked up the purse from the ground, his expression turning strange. He weighed it in his hand, then stepped over to Xiao Ran. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I'm just trying to earn enough to eat and keep a roof over my head. That's all I need. Otherwise, you're always watching me, and I can't take it anymore." Xiao Ran looked utterly helpless. Qi Tongwei immediately realized that his constant surveillance all day had cost the young man a fortune in lost business.

Qi Tongwei thought it over. "If all you want is to get by, I certainly don't want to deprive you of your livelihood. Aren't you a coroner? We happen to be short one. For now, you can stay by my side. As long as I have food to eat, you won't go hungry."

"Well, about that, I..." Xiao Ran's eyes darted away. Qi Tongwei's suggestion seemed to have caught him completely off guard.

Qi Tongwei's gaze was sharp. He saw the panic in Xiao Ran's expression and eyes, and became all the more convinced he needed to keep the young man close. He immediately grabbed Xiao Ran by the wrist. "Then it's settled."

"I... I..."

The more Xiao Ran tried to resist, the tighter Qi Tongwei's grip became. In the end, Qi Tongwei simply dragged him away. Xiao Ran didn't even have time to say goodbye to Golden Toad Son and the others before he was hauled out of the inn.

Only after Xiao Ran had been taken away did smiles appear on Golden Toad Son and the others' faces. The outcome had been exactly what they expected.

Someone as upright to the point of seeming wicked as Qi Tongwei wasn't easy to fool. Xiao Ran had done the opposite of what one